The love story of George H.W. and Barbara Bush through the years

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1940s: Early Beginnings

Barbara Pierce met George Herbert Walker Bush at age 16 at a dance while on Christmas vacation. "Since I didn't waltz, we sat the dance out. And several more after that, talking and getting to know each other," George said later. "It was a storybook meeting."

He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and she attended boarding school Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina. Despite the distance, they dated for a year and a half before George left on deployment in World War II. They posed with his brother Bucky in this circa-1940s photo.

2 of 18

1943-1945: A Wartime Courtship

George proposed just before he left to serve as a naval bomber in Pacific, naming his torpedo bombers after his fiancée. Barbara didn't hear for him for more than a month after George was shot down on September 2, 1944, and the couple planned to wed on a date rescheduled to fit his leave.

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1945: Down the Aisle

Barbara married the navy lieutenant on January 6, 1945, in her hometown of Rye, New York, at the age of 19 — one of only a few first ladies to marry in her teens. "I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband," George wrote in a collection of letters published in 1999.

PHOTO: Corbis

4 of 18

1947: Baby on Board

After the war, George resumed his studies at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Barbara worked at a campus store until they welcomed their first child, George W. Bush (pictured here in April 1947).

PHOTO: Newsmakers

5 of 18

1950: Off to Texas

After graduating, the family relocated to Texas, where George entered the oil business. They welcomed their daughter Pauline Robinson ("Robin") in 1949, who died at just 3 years-old of leukemia. The traumatic experience reportedly caused Barbara's hair to turn prematurely white.

PHOTO: Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Condé Nast

6 of 18

1956: Full House

By 1956, Barbara and George Bush had welcomed Neil, Jeb, and Marvin into the family. In 1959, they welcome their second daughter, Dorothy. Barbara spent most of her time parenting as George's career often took him away from home. He called his wife "the mainstay, of course, the parent who was always there to help solve the daily problems and emergencies of teen and preteen life."

PHOTO: Newsmakers

7 of 18

1966: Entering the Political Arena

George ran for his first major office in 1964 with an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senator. While his first big campaign didn't pan out, George and Barbara celebrated when he became a congressman in 1966.

PHOTO: AFP

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1974: Going to China

After a second failed bid for Senate in 1970, Presidents Richard Nixon and then Gerald Ford appointed George as ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and later envoy to China. The public postings shaped Barbara into a seasoned politician spouse and an effective campaigner and public speaker.

PHOTO: AFP

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1976: Back to the U.S.

The Bushes returned stateside when George became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1976. Barbara would later estimate she'd lived in 29 different houses by the time they reached the White House in 1989. The period marked a dark spot in their marriage, and Barbara suffered with a bout of depression. "Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings," she said. "I almost wonder why he didn't leave me."

PHOTO: Barry Soorenko/CNP

10 of 18

1978: Presidential Ambitions

George threw his hat in the presidential arena not long after. He entered the Republican primaries and later became Ronald Reagan's running mate for the 1980 election.

PHOTO: Dirck Halstead/Liaison

11 of 18

1981: VP and Second Lady

Reagan's victory officially ushered the Bushes into White House politics. This switch to the national stage created a "more expansive role" for Barbara. "The higher George Bush rose, the more he needed Barbara in his political life," Vanity Fair stated in a 1992 profile.

PHOTO: NBC News/NBCU Photo Bank

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1983: Laying the Groundwork

During the early '80s, Barbara began working on her signature cause of childhood literacy, partly due to her son Neil's dyslexia but also her belief that it connected to many other social issues. The couple joined the Reagans on the ticket once again in 1984 for a second term. Now a household name, she became known for her sharp wit and self-deprecating sense of humor.

13 of 18

1989: Taking the White House

Barbara's promise to serve as a traditional first lady helped sweep George into the White House in the 1988 election, this time as president. While her domesticity enticed many voters in a post-Nancy Reagan-era, Barbara envisioned a radical future for the White House in at least one way. In a 1990 commencement speech at Wellesley University, she speculated that someone in the audience might become the president’s spouse — “and I wish him well."

PHOTO: Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures

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1992: Losing Re-election

When he announced his re-election campaign, George referred to perennially popular wife as "my favorite political philosopher," even though they disagreed on social issues like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. "In countless ways, I’ve followed Barbara," he said on the trail. "Someone once said that a politician thinks of the next election, but a statesman thinks of the next generation. Well, that’s Barbara Bush, in so many ways.” Despite his appeal to voters' favorable view of the first lady, George lost his bid for reelection in 1992.

PHOTO: Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures

15 of 18

1997: Leaving Political Life

George and Barbara, seen here at the re-dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Library in 1997, settled into retirement after the White House. Barbara called them "the two luckiest people in the world" in her 1994 memoir. "When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family and friends," she wrote. "We have been inordinately blessed, and we know that."

PHOTO: David Hume Kennerly

16 of 18

2004: Presidential Parents

In 2000, George and Barbara became mom and dad to the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. The couple spent plenty of days at their famed compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, with beloved dog Millie.

PHOTO: David Hume Kennerly

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2008: Staying Strong Together

Besides publicly announcing her Graves' disease diagnosis in 1988, Barbara struggled with other health issues in the 2000s. A perforated ulcer, heart surgery, bronchitis, and pneumonia ailed Barbara over the the past decade. George also suffered from Parkinson's disease and a recurrent case of pneumonia. Barbara told CSPAN in 2013 that the couple prayed about every night "and sometimes we fight over whose turn it is."

PHOTO: Saul Loeb/AFP

18 of 18

2017: Life in Houston

Firmly settled in Texas, George and Barbara spent their final days in Houston, where they appeared at the 2017 Super Bowl. According to granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager, George still said "I love you Barbie" every night as his wife received "comfort care" for her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"I don't have a fear of death for my precious George or for myself because I know that there is a great God and I'm not worried about that," Barbara said in 2013. "I know we'll see Robin again, one way or another, and our families."

Barbara Pierce met George Herbert Walker Bush at age 16 at a dance while on Christmas vacation. "Since I didn't waltz, we sat the dance out. And several more after that, talking and getting to know each other," George said later. "It was a storybook meeting."

He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and she attended boarding school Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina. Despite the distance, they dated for a year and a half before George left on deployment in World War II. They posed with his brother Bucky in this circa-1940s photo.

1943-1945: A Wartime Courtship

George proposed just before he left to serve as a naval bomber in Pacific, naming his torpedo bombers after his fiancée. Barbara didn't hear for him for more than a month after George was shot down on September 2, 1944, and the couple planned to wed on a date rescheduled to fit his leave.

1945: Down the Aisle

Barbara married the navy lieutenant on January 6, 1945, in her hometown of Rye, New York, at the age of 19 — one of only a few first ladies to marry in her teens. "I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband," George wrote in a collection of letters published in 1999.

PHOTO: Corbis

1947: Baby on Board

After the war, George resumed his studies at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Barbara worked at a campus store until they welcomed their first child, George W. Bush (pictured here in April 1947).

PHOTO: Newsmakers

1950: Off to Texas

After graduating, the family relocated to Texas, where George entered the oil business. They welcomed their daughter Pauline Robinson ("Robin") in 1949, who died at just 3 years-old of leukemia. The traumatic experience reportedly caused Barbara's hair to turn prematurely white.

PHOTO: Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Condé Nast

1956: Full House

By 1956, Barbara and George Bush had welcomed Neil, Jeb, and Marvin into the family. In 1959, they welcome their second daughter, Dorothy. Barbara spent most of her time parenting as George's career often took him away from home. He called his wife "the mainstay, of course, the parent who was always there to help solve the daily problems and emergencies of teen and preteen life."

PHOTO: Newsmakers

1966: Entering the Political Arena

George ran for his first major office in 1964 with an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senator. While his first big campaign didn't pan out, George and Barbara celebrated when he became a congressman in 1966.

PHOTO: AFP

1974: Going to China

After a second failed bid for Senate in 1970, Presidents Richard Nixon and then Gerald Ford appointed George as ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and later envoy to China. The public postings shaped Barbara into a seasoned politician spouse and an effective campaigner and public speaker.

PHOTO: AFP

1976: Back to the U.S.

The Bushes returned stateside when George became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1976. Barbara would later estimate she'd lived in 29 different houses by the time they reached the White House in 1989. The period marked a dark spot in their marriage, and Barbara suffered with a bout of depression. "Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings," she said. "I almost wonder why he didn't leave me."

PHOTO: Barry Soorenko/CNP

1978: Presidential Ambitions

George threw his hat in the presidential arena not long after. He entered the Republican primaries and later became Ronald Reagan's running mate for the 1980 election.

PHOTO: Dirck Halstead/Liaison

1981: VP and Second Lady

Reagan's victory officially ushered the Bushes into White House politics. This switch to the national stage created a "more expansive role" for Barbara. "The higher George Bush rose, the more he needed Barbara in his political life," Vanity Fair stated in a 1992 profile.

PHOTO: NBC News/NBCU Photo Bank

1983: Laying the Groundwork

During the early '80s, Barbara began working on her signature cause of childhood literacy, partly due to her son Neil's dyslexia but also her belief that it connected to many other social issues. The couple joined the Reagans on the ticket once again in 1984 for a second term. Now a household name, she became known for her sharp wit and self-deprecating sense of humor.

1989: Taking the White House

Barbara's promise to serve as a traditional first lady helped sweep George into the White House in the 1988 election, this time as president. While her domesticity enticed many voters in a post-Nancy Reagan-era, Barbara envisioned a radical future for the White House in at least one way. In a 1990 commencement speech at Wellesley University, she speculated that someone in the audience might become the president’s spouse — “and I wish him well."

PHOTO: Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures

1992: Losing Re-election

When he announced his re-election campaign, George referred to perennially popular wife as "my favorite political philosopher," even though they disagreed on social issues like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. "In countless ways, I’ve followed Barbara," he said on the trail. "Someone once said that a politician thinks of the next election, but a statesman thinks of the next generation. Well, that’s Barbara Bush, in so many ways.” Despite his appeal to voters' favorable view of the first lady, George lost his bid for reelection in 1992.

PHOTO: Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures

1997: Leaving Political Life

George and Barbara, seen here at the re-dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Library in 1997, settled into retirement after the White House. Barbara called them "the two luckiest people in the world" in her 1994 memoir. "When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family and friends," she wrote. "We have been inordinately blessed, and we know that."

PHOTO: David Hume Kennerly

2004: Presidential Parents

In 2000, George and Barbara became mom and dad to the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. The couple spent plenty of days at their famed compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, with beloved dog Millie.

PHOTO: David Hume Kennerly

2008: Staying Strong Together

Besides publicly announcing her Graves' disease diagnosis in 1988, Barbara struggled with other health issues in the 2000s. A perforated ulcer, heart surgery, bronchitis, and pneumonia ailed Barbara over the the past decade. George also suffered from Parkinson's disease and a recurrent case of pneumonia. Barbara told CSPAN in 2013 that the couple prayed about every night "and sometimes we fight over whose turn it is."

PHOTO: Saul Loeb/AFP

2017: Life in Houston

Firmly settled in Texas, George and Barbara spent their final days in Houston, where they appeared at the 2017 Super Bowl. According to granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager, George still said "I love you Barbie" every night as his wife received "comfort care" for her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"I don't have a fear of death for my precious George or for myself because I know that there is a great God and I'm not worried about that," Barbara said in 2013. "I know we'll see Robin again, one way or another, and our families."

Barbara Pierce met George Herbert Walker Bush at age 16 at a dance while on Christmas vacation. "Since I didn't waltz, we sat the dance out. And several more after that, talking and getting to know each other," George said later. "It was a storybook meeting."

He studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and she attended boarding school Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina. Despite the distance, they dated for a year and a half before George left on deployment in World War II. They posed with his brother Bucky in this circa-1940s photo.

1943-1945: A Wartime Courtship

George proposed just before he left to serve as a naval bomber in Pacific, naming his torpedo bombers after his fiancée. Barbara didn't hear for him for more than a month after George was shot down on September 2, 1944, and the couple planned to wed on a date rescheduled to fit his leave.

1945: Down the Aisle

Barbara married the navy lieutenant on January 6, 1945, in her hometown of Rye, New York, at the age of 19 — one of only a few first ladies to marry in her teens. "I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband," George wrote in a collection of letters published in 1999.

PHOTO: Corbis

1947: Baby on Board

After the war, George resumed his studies at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Barbara worked at a campus store until they welcomed their first child, George W. Bush (pictured here in April 1947).

PHOTO: Newsmakers

1950: Off to Texas

After graduating, the family relocated to Texas, where George entered the oil business. They welcomed their daughter Pauline Robinson ("Robin") in 1949, who died at just 3 years-old of leukemia. The traumatic experience reportedly caused Barbara's hair to turn prematurely white.

PHOTO: Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Condé Nast

1956: Full House

By 1956, Barbara and George Bush had welcomed Neil, Jeb, and Marvin into the family. In 1959, they welcome their second daughter, Dorothy. Barbara spent most of her time parenting as George's career often took him away from home. He called his wife "the mainstay, of course, the parent who was always there to help solve the daily problems and emergencies of teen and preteen life."

PHOTO: Newsmakers

1966: Entering the Political Arena

George ran for his first major office in 1964 with an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senator. While his first big campaign didn't pan out, George and Barbara celebrated when he became a congressman in 1966.

PHOTO: AFP

1974: Going to China

After a second failed bid for Senate in 1970, Presidents Richard Nixon and then Gerald Ford appointed George as ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and later envoy to China. The public postings shaped Barbara into a seasoned politician spouse and an effective campaigner and public speaker.

PHOTO: AFP

1976: Back to the U.S.

The Bushes returned stateside when George became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1976. Barbara would later estimate she'd lived in 29 different houses by the time they reached the White House in 1989. The period marked a dark spot in their marriage, and Barbara suffered with a bout of depression. "Night after night, George held me weeping in his arms while I tried to explain my feelings," she said. "I almost wonder why he didn't leave me."

PHOTO: Barry Soorenko/CNP

1978: Presidential Ambitions

George threw his hat in the presidential arena not long after. He entered the Republican primaries and later became Ronald Reagan's running mate for the 1980 election.

PHOTO: Dirck Halstead/Liaison

1981: VP and Second Lady

Reagan's victory officially ushered the Bushes into White House politics. This switch to the national stage created a "more expansive role" for Barbara. "The higher George Bush rose, the more he needed Barbara in his political life," Vanity Fair stated in a 1992 profile.

PHOTO: NBC News/NBCU Photo Bank

1983: Laying the Groundwork

During the early '80s, Barbara began working on her signature cause of childhood literacy, partly due to her son Neil's dyslexia but also her belief that it connected to many other social issues. The couple joined the Reagans on the ticket once again in 1984 for a second term. Now a household name, she became known for her sharp wit and self-deprecating sense of humor.

1989: Taking the White House

Barbara's promise to serve as a traditional first lady helped sweep George into the White House in the 1988 election, this time as president. While her domesticity enticed many voters in a post-Nancy Reagan-era, Barbara envisioned a radical future for the White House in at least one way. In a 1990 commencement speech at Wellesley University, she speculated that someone in the audience might become the president’s spouse — “and I wish him well."

PHOTO: Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures

1992: Losing Re-election

When he announced his re-election campaign, George referred to perennially popular wife as "my favorite political philosopher," even though they disagreed on social issues like abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. "In countless ways, I’ve followed Barbara," he said on the trail. "Someone once said that a politician thinks of the next election, but a statesman thinks of the next generation. Well, that’s Barbara Bush, in so many ways.” Despite his appeal to voters' favorable view of the first lady, George lost his bid for reelection in 1992.

PHOTO: Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures

1997: Leaving Political Life

George and Barbara, seen here at the re-dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Library in 1997, settled into retirement after the White House. Barbara called them "the two luckiest people in the world" in her 1994 memoir. "When all the dust is settled and all the crowds are gone, the things that matter are faith, family and friends," she wrote. "We have been inordinately blessed, and we know that."

PHOTO: David Hume Kennerly

2004: Presidential Parents

In 2000, George and Barbara became mom and dad to the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. The couple spent plenty of days at their famed compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, with beloved dog Millie.

PHOTO: David Hume Kennerly

2008: Staying Strong Together

Besides publicly announcing her Graves' disease diagnosis in 1988, Barbara struggled with other health issues in the 2000s. A perforated ulcer, heart surgery, bronchitis, and pneumonia ailed Barbara over the the past decade. George also suffered from Parkinson's disease and a recurrent case of pneumonia. Barbara told CSPAN in 2013 that the couple prayed about every night "and sometimes we fight over whose turn it is."

PHOTO: Saul Loeb/AFP

2017: Life in Houston

Firmly settled in Texas, George and Barbara spent their final days in Houston, where they appeared at the 2017 Super Bowl. According to granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager, George still said "I love you Barbie" every night as his wife received "comfort care" for her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

"I don't have a fear of death for my precious George or for myself because I know that there is a great God and I'm not worried about that," Barbara said in 2013. "I know we'll see Robin again, one way or another, and our families."

PHOTO: Al Bello

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The love story of George H.W. and Barbara Bush through the years

The former first lady called them "the two luckiest people in the world."

Just teenagers when they met, George H.W. and Barbara Bush spent more than seven decades of their lives together. The former president and first lady endured the loss of a child, raised five more, and weathered the ups and downs of a political life years in the making. Throughout it all, they had each other — and never lost sight of their special bond.